YuGiOh! Hour of Aurora
by Venom Amaranth
Summary: Six months after the Pyramid of Light incident, Yugi and Yami are entangled in another mess related to the past. Only this time, they're not alone...
1. Prelude

**Well, here we go with the prologue of Yu-Gi-Oh! Hour of Aurora! Enjoy!**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! is (C) Kazuki Takahashi and Konami**

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Prelude

Long ago, when the pyramids were still young, Egyptian kings played a game of great and terrible power. But these shadow games erupted into a war that threatened to destroy the entire world until a brave and powerful pharaoh locked magic away…

However, in the midst of the pandemonium, this wasn't the only warfare that raged…

Among the sorcerers who had released dark magic into the world, one of the many held a personal vendetta against the Pharaoh himself…Scorpius. His desire to take the throne himself was slaughtered by the Pharaoh's father himself.

Full of misery and wrath he studied dark magic for many years before betraying him and releasing dark magic in an attempt to destroy all those against him. In the world's desperate hour, the Pharaoh quickly formed a group of four warriors, including himself. He had called three of his companions…

Seto, his high priest, who had taken up a sword so pure that no evil could desecrate it…

Jono, a childhood companion, ready with a sword, thoroughly purified by expert magicians, so strong it could cut through rock, but never metal…

And Rehema, a dark brunette servant girl for the Pharaoh who had much fighting experience, taking her forever resting mother's scepter into her hand.

With all of them summoned to battle, the Pharaoh himself was lent a staff from one of his most trusted servants. Black clouds of doom hovered over Egypt itself before they even got there, and a small amount of men, women, and even children had their lives spill away from earth during the malevolent sorcerer's attack.

The four rode into combat on two dragons, Jono and the Pharaoh riding upon a black dragon with red eyes, and Seto and Rehema on the white dragon with blue eyes, both dragons having been summoned from their stone tablets with magic, and the battle began. Scorpius had attacked with his own red eyed gray dragon, Diabolos. Magic of light and darkness flew in all directions, frenzying throughout the whole battle between these warriors and the wicked sorcerer, and even the dragons attacked and wounded each other. Then, the Pharaoh performed an act that Scorpius did not expect.

Ripping the headpiece he wore to prove himself as Pharaoh from his head, he let it fall from his hands. Seeing his chance, Scorpius commanded Diabolos to charge for the headpiece, and the dragon thrust downward, lusting to fulfill his master's command…

The white dragon with blue eyes, carrying Seto and Rehema, clamped its mouth around his neck.

With his dragon dying, the sorcerer had no choice but to land in front of the palace. His dragon's breath ended the second they landed, leaving the sorcerer in grief. By the time the warriors landed, wrath burned ahead of sorrow. The four called their dragons back to their tablets to settle the massacre with a battle of swords and magic.

The struggle ensued for what seemed like eternity, blood spilling every second, but when Scorpius had bowed to attempt a sneak attack, Jono and Seto thrust their swords forward, catching his cape and pinning him to the palace wall, enabling Rehema to paralyze him. The Pharaoh, then transmuting his staff into a long sword, lunged for him…

And stabbed the evil sorcerer in the heart.

When his dying breath finally concluded, he dissolved into the air, never to be seen again for many years. But the time to celebrate hadn't come yet. To defy his return, the warriors broke the one and only item that could strengthen him, a dark mirror known as the Mirror of Nightfall, into four shards and masked them deep into the sands of Egypt.

Ever since then, the people of Egypt recognized these brave warriors as the Divine Aurora. But little did they realize that this was only the beginning, and that Scorpius promised vengeance upon them.


	2. It's Only the Beginning

**Well, I promised a new beginning, so here's part of it! Behold Neo Chapter I! :D**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! is (C) Kazuki Takahashi and Konami**

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Chapter One

It's Only the Beginning

**Yugi Muto**

The bell sounded to inform every scholar and student the time to journey home had come. Like I did on every other school day, I secreted any papers, pencils, and any other school materials I had into my dark topaz colored leather backpack, fastened it secure, wrapped the straps around my shoulders, and strode out of the rapidly emptying classroom and through the crowded halls like a specter soaring through the air, unseen, invisible to all, leaving no evidence of existence behind.

Tea was waiting for me by the central doorway, and Joey and Tristan walked up to her, waiting for me as well. As soon as I managed to join them, we soon departed through the doorway. The four of us went through the gates, leaving all those who remained on the campus behind. The sun's lukewarm rays shone down upon us, doing the best it could to fight off any traces of another storm to rise similar to the rainstorm from a few days ago. The ground was still somewhat moist from that downpour, but the worst of what remained of that storm seemed to have vanished with time.

Every now and then, a drizzle would still trickle down in separate drops of water, but it would cease to do so within ten seconds time.

As we passed through the streets, I looked up to see that the craze was still continuing.

"There they go again," I said. "It's the talk of the whole town."

"Hasn't there been a day when they _haven't_ been talking about it?" Tristan asked.

What we were referring to was a movie that had been released a month ago, and yet everywhere we looked, people declined to give up the subject. It was a romance film that had, from what I heard, an extraordinarily tear-jerking finale. It had already won two awards.

We decided to just saunter past them and head for the Game Shop. However, we had come to a _Don't Walk_ glowing sign, so it looked like we would have to endure more about the movie. I had to admit though, it got me intrigued. All I knew about it was that the ending was a sad one, and a lot of girls we passed would be in tears, another piece of evidence that reinforced that idea.

A couple of girls right beside us began to speak of the movie. I heard one break into a massacre of weeps, but I wasn't paying close attention to what they were saying. I picked up the word 'love', but that was it. The Walk glow finally came, and we crossed the street freely, coming to the Domino Museum.

"It's amazing how long the topic's been on," said Tea. "It's like it doesn't have an off button."

My steps slowed to a stop when a sound cut through the atmosphere and stunned me in my tracks.

"Huh?" was my only response to the sound.

I heard the others stop behind me.

"Hey, Yuge. What's wrong, pal?" I heard Joey ask.

"Did you hear something?" I asked, turning to him.

All of my friends stayed silent for a moment. Before long, it came again, sounding like an agonized scream of pain.

"Hey, I hear it!" said Joey. "What's goin' on in there?"

"Hey! Did you hear something?" Seraphic golden wind chimes suddenly entered the apprehension, accompanied with footsteps. Startled by the sound of the voice, my body whipped around to meet a whole new sight.

Waist length jet black hair danced before the ivory face of a thin girl clothed in a valley of black, her irises of sapphire blue venom so vicious it would've struck fear into a normal girl. Given her appearance, she seemed two years away from completing the adolescence stage, but she was unusually tall, beating even Tristan by a few inches. Six foot three maybe? I knew girls could get tall, but this tall?

As I studied what she was wearing, the first thing I saw was a black corset being worn like a tank top. It completely covered her chest, completed with lace straps. A lace choker wrapped around her neck, the charm being a silver heart with six diamonds studded into it. Embracing her forearms were fingerless fishnet gloves, spiked bracelets loosely embracing her wrists, and I saw a golden ring with sapphires and diamonds, a pair separated from another by a golden X on her left ring finger. A black backpack bejeweled with gothic buttons clung to her right shoulder.

A black skirt sheathed her legs until it ended at her knees, and her feet were protected from harm because of knee length gray lace up boots edged with two inch heels, still being tall even without them. Just being shorter by two inches. So she had to be six foot one.

"You heard that?" Joey asked.

She nodded to respond.

"I was taking a shortcut home when I passed through here," she said. "It was then I heard the screaming." Her voice wasn't loud enough to dominate the sound, unfortunately.

So she could hear it too. But what was going on in the museum to cause the sound of screaming?

"Maybe it's a mechanism…" Right as she said that, a louder scream came as I took in a breath of shock. She slowly turned her head to face the museum as two words came out in a single breath.

"Oh no…" her voice was lower now.

Silence lurked in the area like a shark roaming the seas, and the loudest scream came. This one had so much volume that it was actually clawed at my eardrums, as though it had been screaming directly into my ear. Alarmed, my hands shot up to my ears.

"Agh!" the girl mimicked my attempt to protect my hearing, but her head had dipped. After what seemed like a minute, her long legs lunged forward towards the museum. One movement was all it took to get my adrenaline surging through me.

My hands lowered when the screaming had stopped, but my adrenaline had actually gotten me at least two inches ahead of my taller friends, my heart hammering against my rib cage faster than a heavy metal song. If anyone saw me at this point, they would have compared me to a wolf chasing his prey, but my head was everywhere. I tried to picture what could be going on in the museum.

An armed robbery? No…that couldn't be it. If it was a burglary, then the screaming person would be dead at this point. I probably would have heard a gunshot too. A child seeing something bloodcurdling? Definitely not. A child's scream could never be that loud, and this voice was much older. It sounded like a man in his late twenties, perhaps nearing thirties.

As I drew closer, a cry was heard. Not a human cry, but the roar of a dragon. It was in complete agony. Maybe it was music? If someone had heard me say that, they probably would have smacked me upside the head. There was no way people would play heavy metal in a museum!

I slowed to a stop at the museum entrance and pushed the door open. The screaming seemed to have stopped right as my friends and adolescent girl came through. The silence lingered again for a long five minutes, with us merely just standing in the middle of the main entrance. I waited for the desperation, both mine and theirs, but it just seemed too composed in the room, like the calm before a tempest at sea.

Another minute passed, another shriek came. Somewhat jumping in alarm, my body whisked until it met the staircase.

"The screaming…is it coming from upstairs?!" Tea was suddenly alert, and Joey and Tristan were already lacing their way up the stairs. Hastening after them, the adrenaline surged again. The two of them were kangaroos; I couldn't catch them to steal a card.

_Where could that be coming from? _I thought to myself.

_I don't know where, but whatever it is, it can't be good,_ Yami's memorable voice suddenly entered. _These are cries of agony. _

"It should be here…" the wind chimes of her voice interrupted us. I planted my feet to the floor and peeked into the room, hoping to see what kind of crisis was in this room.

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**BEFORE YOU PROCEED FURTHER!!!!!!!**

**This story is still underway of its revision. If you go on, nothing will make sense. I will try and get the Neo Chapters up ASAP.**


	3. Mirror

**Here comes the Neo Chapter II! Love it or loathe it.**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! is (c) Kazuki Takahashi and Konami.**

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**Chapter II**

**Mirror**

It was a very large room, but not a very big exhibit. There seemed to be only at least five objects in the area itself.

"It was the loudest here," Tea said. "But I don't seem to hear anymore screaming."

"Same here," I said.

"Drat those false alarms!" the raven haired adolescent said, her fist punching the air. Her sentence was contradicted by another agonized cry. Where in this room were those screams coming from?

"So much for a false alarm," said Tea. "Hello!? Is somebody here?"

And we began looking again. We swept past nothing but space in this almost empty room, but after at least five minutes, the screaming subsided, and the minutes crawled into a comfortable silence.

The youth girl tilted her head, as if she were curious about the sight of an unknown object.

"That was the weirdest thing," she said. "My only thought's that it was some kind of mechanism that was supposed to…"

She trailed off, and a few minutes later, she turned to face us.

"You know, I just realized!" she said with mock regret. "We've been talking, and I never introduced myself! Agh!" She slapped her temple with her wrist, but she quickly let it descend back to her thigh.

"My name's Sapphira Weaver," she said.

_Weaver?_ I thought. _Is she related to Jennifer Weaver?_

Jennifer Weaver. A young woman who had only been at her career for two years, but was a defense attorney that a prosecutor would never want to meet in the court room.

At the age of twenty three, she had fiercely defended her five year older client, a hotel bellhop, when he had been accused of stabbing his fiancé to death, and then stealing back a pink sapphire and diamond ring designed by Jean Schlumberger himself. This also happened to be her engagement ring.

With so much evidence and information, she managed to clear the bellhop's name and confirm the murderer, who happened to be someone who had been stalking the victim for a long while, at the same time. Now twenty six years old, since that case, her name relentlessly attacked the headlines, and she became the talk among law enforcement. She hadn't lost a case since.

"And you?"

The two words immediately snapped me from the trance that was the recollection. My head snapped up to face Sapphira.

"I'm Yugi Muto," I said sheepishly. "Pleased to meet you."

The sapphires in her eyes seemed to widen, as if she had found out something interesting.

"So _you're _the Yugi Muto everyone's been talking about!" she said with an affectionate smile on her face. She executed a small curtsy as if she were welcoming me into her home. "I am honored to meet you."

I could vow my face had turned scarlet. It felt as though her sentence was coming out of a maiden from the Renaissance instead of a tall and somewhat muscular girl.

"Sorry," she said. "I don't pay a lot of attention to what's going on in the dueling world right now. I've never competed in a tournament. I was considering going to Battle City, but my sister had a case on that day, and I've always wanted to see how she did in the courtroom, so I ditched that opportunity to go see her."

"Courtroom?" I asked.

"My sister's the famous attorney Jennifer Weaver," she replied.

"Really?" Tea asked.

Sapphira nodded.

"What kind of-" I attempted to ask.

My thoughts were shattered by a sudden bright sky blue glow attempting to illuminate the already white room. Startled, I turned to meet the source, which cowered in the very back of the room. A silver circle with many carvings in it rested behind a glass wall on a stone pedestal. A mirror?

"What is that?" I asked myself, taking five seconds to realize that those three words were still audible.

"What's what, Yuge?" Joey asked.

My legs were almost immediately striding towards that plane sphere in a trance like walk, like a sailor falling victim to the siren's song. My soul somehow possessed a desire to give into an unnamed temptation. This mirror…I felt like it were calling to me.

I stopped short at the glass wall, my friends and Sapphira suddenly behind me. My first interior response was an awestruck, but pleasant shock.

Resting on the stone stand was an unquestionably beautiful mirror. Glass did not grace reflections, but it looked as though it had taken at least thousands of crystals, maybe even diamonds, to create this. Thorn vines spiraled across each part of the mirror, coming to an end at the center, where the Millennium symbol stared back at us. Four cracks eternally scarred the beautiful, crystalline surface.

My second interior response was a never ending wonder.

What _was _this?

I guided my eyes to the very pedestal it rested on. Carved into it were three words.

**_Mirror of Nightfall_**

"Whoa," Tristan gasped. It was accompanied with a sigh of pure shock.

"What in the?" Joey suddenly whispered.

"Mirror of Nightfall?" Tea said.

"What kind of thing is this? Another Millennium Item?" Sapphira asked.

My eyes widened. How did she know?

"How do you-?"

My question was interrupted again by another bright blue glow, stronger than the last one. I quickly shielded my eyes in an attempt to protect them.

_Yugi! _Yami's voice suddenly cried out. _I sense a dark energy within this mirror! Let me take over!_

I quickly tensed my body, and tried to imagine my spirit leaving it. A golden glow contrasted against the one the mirror shed, but at that moment, my eyes closed, and I drifted into the dark void of unconsciousness.

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**The next chapter is currently under revision. So please be patient! I will get it up ASAP!**

**Venom Amaranth out.**


	4. The Darkness Returns

**Special thanks to Pharaohyamifan with this chapter! :D**

**Yu-Gi-Oh is (c) Kazuki Takahashi and Konami**

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Chapter III

The Darkness Returns

As I drifted through the black void, I entered through the gates of a vision.

_It was a little hazy at first, but a scene gradually cleared, and soon, I found myself in a valley on a beautiful dark night, a magnificent green aurora hovering over the land like an angel. Grass was crushed under my feet, and the mountains towered until they reached about thirty feet into the air, and circled all around me until they were as far as the eye could see. There was a rock about thirty feet away from my right, with some wild freesias and amaranths surrounding it._

_A sound suddenly impaled the silence. It was an explosion, as though a bomb had detonated. Startled by the sound, my head darted to seek the source of the racket. When my head got to the center for the second time, Yami, Kaiba, Joey, and Sapphira suddenly skidded in front of me. _

_But something was odd about the way they appeared. They were garbed in armor that I couldn't get a lot of detail of, and all of them were holding some kind of weapon in their hands. While Joey and Kaiba were clasping swords, Sapphira and Yami were holding a staff._

"_Yami?" I felt his name escape my lips. "What's going on here?"_

_Before I could question him further, he jerked an arm out towards me._

"_This isn't the time for questions…" Sapphira's voice carried a snarl. _

_A gray dragon suddenly appeared, someone on its back, garbed in black and blue. The figure lifted something into the air, and a violet orb of dark magic appeared. It jerked its staff towards us, sending the orb flying. _

_Right when I thought they were going to get hit, I them levitate into the air as I leapt out of the way. More violet orbs thrashed forward, and all of them were hit, and they rocketed to the ground._

_Joey rose suddenly, along with the others._

"_Argh!" he suddenly said. "Every attack we try isn't workin'!"_

"_Either this sword is weak…" said Kaiba. "Or this sorcerer's a lot smarter than I thought."_

"_Alright, screw this!" screamed Sapphira. "Guys, I hope we can win this by unleashing the dragon."_

_What dragon was she talking about?_

"_It looks like he's leaving us no choice," said Yami. He suddenly turned to me. "Get back."_

_I backed up at least fifteen feet away, and after a couple seconds, cards flew up, circled them, and after a couple of seconds, they started to glow. Soul-like Dark Magician, Magician's Valkyria, Blue Eyes White Dragon, and Red Eyes Black Dragon suddenly pulled away from them, like a fissure opening. _

_They rose exactly twenty feet in the air. Yami held his arms out at arm's length, his wrists limp, and then a white light with violet sparks flying bathed the area. I braced the light with my arm, and then it began to dim. In their place was the Light and Darkness Dragon. Could this have been the dragon I saw on the stone carving?_

_The aurora above us then started to pulse from green to blue as it roared._

_Soon, everything went black again…_

"Yugi?"

Sapphira's voice, along with police sirens, broke through the darkness. I slowly opened my eyes to see her hovering over me from the side, her hand on my heart.

"Sa…pphira?" I felt somewhat fatigued after experiencing that vision.

"Are you alright?" Concern was drowning her voice.

"I think so…" I said softly, sitting upward.

"Thank goodness," she said. Her voice and heart were at ease. "Do you hurt anywhere?"

"No. I'm fine," I replied.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay," she said. "But we've got bigger problems!"

Startled at the word 'problems', I quickly made eye contact with her.

"Problems like where that sorcerer and dragon went! Those crooks nicked the Mirror of Nightfall too!"

I was in shock. This was one crime those thieves were going to regret. In the prophecy, it said:

_Although the wicked sorcerer was defeated, he will not be silenced until he tastes sweet revenge._

This was bad. This was like the Pyramid of Light incident that occurred six months ago all over again. But during that time, there were no thieves. Anubis set himself free to destroy the planet…did Scorpius and Diabolos free themselves and escape with the Mirror of Nightfall while we were unconscious?

When I looked around the scene, still on the floor, it unquestionably looked as though something broke into the museum.

The glass display case holding the Sorcerer of Dark Magic card and the Diabolos, King of the Abyss card had been entirely devastated. As Sapphira testified, the cards were gone. Examining where the Mirror of Nightfall was, the display window was now nothing but a cloud of glass remains strewn over the floor.

It couldn't have been thieves. If it was thieves, then the glass wouldn't have been shattered all the way. There would only be one wall broken for the cards, and a medium sized hole for the Mirror of Nightfall. But it wasn't just the shape of the punctures that told me there was some sort of dark magic at work here.

The stone tablet that depicted the battle between the pharaoh, the priest, the girl, the young man, and Scorpius had been completely destroyed. Now it was nothing but a pile of debris. It couldn't have been thrown. And if it was thieves, they would have escaped with it. Something was definitely wrong here.

I heard a groan, and turned. Joey regained consciousness, followed by Tristan and Tea.

"You guys okay?" asked Sapphira.

"Yeah, I'm breathing," said Tristan. "Head's killing me though."

"Tea? Joey?" Sapphira spoke their names.

"I'm okay," said Tea. Her hand stroked her head.

"Same here," said Joey. "What happened though? Somethin' 'bout dis Scorpio guy?"

"Somebody swiped the Mirror of Nightfall and the two cards!" said Sapphira. "Though I don't think we're dealing with crooks here."

Worry crashed into me as I sensed peril. Right as that happened, Grandpa awoke.

"Grandpa," my voice carried mild authority as he rose into a seating position. "Stay here." I quickly turned to Tea, Tristan, and Joey. "I have a feeling Kaiba's in danger. I have to warn him!"

I quickly got to my feet and started to run.

"Wait, Yugi!" Tea suddenly called me by name.

"Just keep an eye on Grandpa, I'll call you!" The idea danger was nearing was starting to burn. As I ran from the exhibit, footsteps followed me.

"Wait!" Sapphira's voice followed me as she ran behind me. "Hold it! You're not going out there on your own!"

More footsteps.

"Hey! Yuge!" Joey's voice pierced the silence. "Wait up!"

I turned at a corner and descended the stairs. As I ran past the poster explaining about the exhibit, I rocketed through the doors and was finally into the outside world.

It was twilight in Domino now. The sun submerged behind the mountains; only a small sphere of amber surrounding it remained, and now the entire sky was covered in a deep winter blue. We must have been unconscious for hours.

I ran down the last set of stairs as fast as my legs would carry me. With every stride, the night got darker. Right as I got halfway through the steps though, a black limo pulled up. I slowed to a stop as the car door opened, and Mokuba emerged as Sapphira and Joey emerged right beside me.

"Mokuba?" Joey questioned him by name.

"What're you doing here?" asked Sapphira.

"Yugi!" Mokuba exclaimed. "I've been looking all over for you. My brother sent me to find you and he said to make sure you bring your Duel Disk right away."

"He's STILL trying to beat Yugi!?" I heard Sapphira let loose an exasperated whisper.

"Wait, so he's alright?" I asked.

"Not exactly," said Mokuba, concern drowning him. "He hasn't been acting like himself lately. I think he's gonna totally lose it this time!"

"That's not good…" It slipped from Joey.

Joey, Sapphira, Mokuba, and I slid into the limo, Mokuba closing the door as he re-entered the ebony car. The limo took off for the Game Shop, and it only took us about ten minutes to arrive. I got out, ran into the shop, went upstairs and into my room, and grabbed my Duel Disk, in which I had not used for six months. I then grabbed my deck, lying next to it, ran out of the room, and went back to the car.

I closed the door as I got in, and the limo left again. We took off for downtown, and after at least twenty minutes of driving, I returned to the scene where Kaiba and I witnessed the power of the Pyramid of Light.

Knowing Kaiba, he'd be at the top floor, waiting to duel me. I walked to one of the elevators and went in, but it closed behind me before Joey or Sapphira could get in, so I was alone in the elevator. Inside, I departed from the bottom floor up to the dueling arena, where I donned the Duel Disk and inserted my deck. Despite six months flying by, I knew what Kaiba was after. He was still after my Egyptian God cards.

Yami suddenly appeared to me in spirit form.

"I think…there's something far more dangerous going on here…" I said softly. "And I'll bet this all has something to do with this Scorpius guy. It sounds like you two battled when you sealed the Shadow Games 5000 years ago!"

"_Perhaps,_" said Yami. "_But tragically, my reminiscences of my time as the Pharaoh are vague. Nor is it clear to me what role we, Kaiba, Joey, and Sapphira have to play in all of this."_

I remembered the vision perfectly, and I knew he was referring to that. But what did that vision mean? And what was with the armor they were wearing? And what of the sorcerer and the dragon? Despite all that I had seen, something about the aurora borealis in the sky bothered me. Towards the end, it started pulsing from green to blue. Did it mean anything?

Before deciding to do anything else, I quickly tensed my body, and the Millennium Puzzle began to glow. My eyes closed, and my spirit separated from me as I retreated into the chambers of the Puzzle, and let Yami take my place. I decided I would have to think about the vision he and I had at the museum during the duel.

**Yami Yugi**

I was now nearing the top floor. Still, I had a feeling I couldn't shake. Something dreadful was going to happen during this duel. Although it looked as though things would be alright, I _knew_ something dangerous was about to occur. But what? And why?

The elevator slowed to a stop, and the glass doors swung open. I strode out right as another elevator came to a stop, and Joey and Sapphira left their elevator. I kept walking.

"Where's the balcony for this joint?" said Sapphira.

"No clue," said Joey. "I thought there was a balcony the last time I was here."

"You were here before?" Sapphira's voice faded as I turned at a corridor. Right when I did that, I saw it.

There was the arena. Like I thought, Kaiba was waiting on the far end of the field, his arms crossed, a smirk on his face reading 'Today will be the day you breathe your last!'. Other than the smirk, he almost looked completely serene. He was garbed in the black shirt, black pants, and white coat I saw him wear at Battle City, and the silver armlets on his wrists and the straps around his upper arms and shins were still embracing him. Something felt different in the atmosphere…

"You wanted a rematch, Kaiba?" my voice carried determination. "You've got one."

"Heh," Kaiba's voice caressed the promise of violence. "This time, Yugi…" His right arm glided across his neck, and he jerked it out towards the wall at arm's length. "I won't let the chance to crush you slip through my fingers! I won't lose to you again!"

Footsteps broke the silence in the air, and before I even knew it, Joey and Sapphira were standing at least ten feet away from us, facing an immense screen. She was then looking at me, and from the look in her eyes, I sensed what she was trying to tell me.

_He won't listen_, it was like the shining in her blue eyes was talking to me, rather than Sapphira herself. _Don't try telling him!_

Kaiba reached two fingers toward the left side of his coat, containing a small radio if he needed to communicate with Mokuba.

"Mokuba, seal all the exits," he said. He sounded completely determined.

It was silent for a short five minutes, but then I heard a mechanical sound. I looked over my shoulder to see that the door behind me had shut. I was trapped, and now Kaiba was giving me no option but to duel.

My left forearm extended outward, like a rapier pointing at its target, and my Duel Disk activated. I then brought my forearm back so it was crossing my chest. Kaiba's Duel Disk was already activated. With our decks in place, the Duel had begun right as drew five cards, and sounded the war cry.

"It's time to duel!"

Tension crashed into the arena as Kaiba drew his first card. He studied his hand for a second, and then pulled a card out.

"I'll play a monster face down," he said as the card appeared on the field. He then picked up another card. "I'll then I'll set this card, and end my turn." Another card emerged from a yellow light.

I drew a card, and then examined my hand. I had Queen's Knight, Sorcerer of Dark Magic, and Beta the Magnet Warrior for my only monsters, and then I had Double Spell, Mage Power, and The Regulation of Tribe. I quickly picked up Beta, and slapped the card onto my Duel Disk.

"I summon Beta the Magnet Warrior!" I declared. Slowly, Beta materialized onto the field. "Beta! Attack now!"

Underneath my order, Beta rose into the air, a yellow ball of magnetic energy forming between its hands. After a couple of seconds, it thrust it at Kaiba's face down monster. When it struck, the card was split, and the monster Peten the Dark Clown was revealed. It leaned back for a second, in a sprawling position, before it shattered into shards. A smirk flew onto Kaiba's lips; he had seen that coming.

"I'd hate to be bearer of bad news," he said. "But when you destroyed Peten the Dark Clown, you activated its special ability, which lets me summon another one to the field from my Deck or my hand."

He pulled out his deck and looked through it, the cards all positioned like a fan. Kaiba then picked up a card, placed it on his Duel Disk, and Peten the Dark Clown appeared once again. Kaiba put his deck back into the deck slot, while I looked over my hand.

"I'll set two cards face down," I inserted The Regulation of Tribe and Double Spell into two card slots. "And end my turn."

Kaiba drew another card, looked at it, and took his next turn. Another card flew onto his Duel Disk.

"I'll summon Familiar Knight in defense mode!" the card appeared sideways first, and then the knight came out, crouched on the card with his shield up, his sword pointing outward. "Your move, Yugi."

I drew another card, and examined it. Magician's Valkyria had come to my hand. I sent her down to another monster card zone.

"I summon Magician's Valkyria in attack mode!" I declared. She appeared on the field as a cry of astonishment slipped from Sapphira.

"He's got her?!" I heard her say. I didn't once look at her, my eyes focusing on Kaiba.

"Next, I'll boost her strength with Mage Power!" I inserted Mage Power into a card slot. "Now, for every Magic and Trap card on my side of the field, she gains 500 additional attack points."

Magician's Valkyria glowed a green aura as her attack points went up to 3100.

"Now Valkyria," I said, preparing my attack. "Attack Familiar Knight with Mystic Scepter Blast!"

Magician's Valkyria thrust her arm, holding the staff, towards Familiar Knight, and an orb of peridot green light discharging out from her staff like a gust of wind. It struck Kaiba's Familiar Knight, and its shield cracked as it was destroyed. In the knight's place, due to its effect, now came Vorse Raider.

But thankfully, I could summon a Level 4 monster as well. So I picked up Queen's Knight and laid her on the card slot in Attack mode. A rose colored orb appeared, and then took her shape before the Queen's Knight herself appeared, the lilac colored blade in her hand.

Even though Vorse Raider was something to worry about, I would have bigger problems if I left both monsters on the field. He could be ready to sacrifice those two monsters to summon a really powerful monster.

Since Kaiba only had two Peten the Dark Clowns left, if I attacked the one on the field, and then the next one that came out, Kaiba would no longer have two monsters on the field.

"Next, I'll move to attack Peten the Dark Clown!" I said. "Queen's Knight! Attack!"

Queen's Knight leaped into the air, and as she descended, she slashed her blade at the Dark Clown. There was moan of pain from Kaiba's monster, and it immediately shattered. The last Peten the Dark Clown came, but with Beta the Magnet Warrior on the field, it didn't stand a chance.

I declared my attack, and Beta thrust another yellow energy ball, destroying every Dark Clown in Kaiba's deck. Now, if he had a powerful monster he desperately needed to summon, he wouldn't be able to bring it out. I ended my turn.

Rage flooded Kaiba's eyes as he drew his next card. He looked at it, and grinned like a hunter that finally caught his prey.

"I activate Cost Down!" he inserted the card into a card slot, and then the card itself appeared on the field. "Now by discarding one card from my hand, all of my monster's levels decrease by two levels until the end of this turn!"

He picked up a card, and slid it into his Graveyard.

"Now, I sacrifice my Vorse Raider!" he thrust his arm out as his Vorse Raider dissolved. "And I summon Blue Eyes White Dragon!"

A crystal blue light shone above Kaiba, and streamed down right beside him and hit the ground like an angel descending from heaven. There was a roar, and the light took the shape of a dragon…

And there it was. The Blue Eyes White Dragon. It gave a look to my monsters that could only be described as a glare. This was not good. With that on the field, winning this duel was going not going to be easy. But I had faith in my deck.

"Blue Eyes! Attack Queen's Knight!" Kaiba declared his attack. "White Lightning Attack!"

The Blue Eyes opened its mouth, its head turned towards my Queen's Knight, a ball of white lightning forming. But I was ready.

"Not so fast, Kaiba!" I quickly pressed the button containing my The Regulation of Tribe card. "I activate my trap! The Regulation of Tribe!" The card flipped up, picture showing, and it glowed for a second.

"With this card," I explained. "I get to choose a monster type. And as long as this card is in play…" I smirked as I explained its effect. "Monsters of that type cannot attack. And I choose Dragon!"

A look of horror came into Kaiba's eyes. My monsters were now safe.

"However, during my Standby Phases," I continued. "I have to sacrifice a monster to keep my Regulation of Tribe in play."

Kaiba, glaring at my side of the field, picked up a card, slid it into his Magic and Trap card Zone, and ended his turn.

I drew, sacrificing Queen's Knight in the process. Pot of Greed was now in my hand. With this, I could draw two cards, and hopefully get a card or two that would get past his Blue Eyes and to his Life Points. I played the Pot of Greed.

"I play Pot of Greed, which lets me draw two cards!" I declared. I picked up two cards, and then slid them out from my Duel Disk, and took a quick glance. The two cards I had picked up were Dark Magician Girl and Sage's Stone. I looked at the other card I had in my hand. Sorcerer of Dark Magic was still there.

"I sacrifice my Magnet Warrior," I said clearly, Beta dissolving in the process. I laid Dark Magician Girl on the slot where Beta once was. "and summon Dark Magician Girl!"

A pink whirlwind raged next to Magician's Valkyria, and when it cleared, Dark Magician Girl appeared, twirling the staff in her hand as fast as a hurricane.

"And next," I continued, inserting Sage's Stone into another slot. "I'll play Sage's Stone, which lets me summon the Dark Magician from my deck."

I fanned out my deck, picked up the Dark Magician from where it would be at the bottom of my deck, and placed it next to Dark Magician Girl. Soon, he materialized onto the field as well. Since I had gone through my deck, I shuffled it, and then placed it back into the slot where it once was.

Kaiba had no idea on what I was about to do. He had a smirk on his face now.

"Big deal," his voice caressed domination.

"Oh, it's a big deal alright," I slid my two newly summoned magicians into my Graveyard. "For now, I sacrifice both my Magicians, and summon Sorcerer of Dark Magic!"

My hand released the Sorcerer as soon as it touched the slot. Embers danced around the area where the hologram was going to stand, and then a fire colored light blanketed that exact area. When it dimmed, the Sorcerer of Dark Magic stood.

"Sorcerer of Dark Magic?" I could tell Sapphira had never seen that card before. "Wait…3200 attack points!?"

"Let's see...if the Blue Eyes has 3000, then…whoa, that's one tough monster!" Joey had never seen the Sorcerer of Dark Magic up to this point. He was trapped in the Pyramid of Light six months ago when I first used it.

"Sorcerer!" I was preparing my attack. "Attack the Blue Eyes White Dragon with Celestial Blast Attack!"

The Sorcerer thrust his staff forward as a stream of fire colored magic rocketed towards his Blue Eyes, but a card flipped up on Kaiba's side of the field. He saw another one of my moves coming for him.

"I don't think so!" he cried. "I activate Negate Attack!"

A portal swirled in front of Kaiba's Blue Eyes, and the magic went through it.

"Oh crap," Sapphira's voice followed that move. She was really hoping for that attack to succeed. But it didn't matter. Although he was safe for this turn, my Sorcerer was going to ready on my next move. I ended my turn.

Kaiba drew a card, and inserted it into his Magic and Trap card zone.

"I play Mystical Space Typhoon!" he said, his voice caressing victory. "Now, with this, I can destroy one Magic or Trap card on your side of the field! And the card that will feel the wrath of my typhoon is The Regulation of Tribe!"

Sapphira and Joey gasped. That was the one trap that protected my monsters from his Blue Eyes. Wind gusted towards me, and The Regulation of Tribe shattered, the shards being carried away by the typhoon.

"Which means my Blue Eyes is free to attack," Kaiba sounded excited to finally have a chance for his favorite monster to attack. "Blue Eyes! Attack Magician's Valkyria with White Lightening!"

The dragon opened its mouth as a ball of white lightening began to form. A couple of seconds later, the attack discharged and struck my Valkyria. With a cry, she shattered, and I lost 400 Life Points. Due to Mage Power, her attack power was at 2600. If I hadn't had it out, I would have lost 1400 Life Points. So now, I was at 3600.

"Uh, Kaiba?" I heard Sapphira's voice again. "I think there's something wrong with one of the Duel Disks."

I turned to see what she was talking about.

"Yugi, the Sorcerer's staff!" she pointed the Sorcerer of Dark Magic, and when I took a glance at it, the staff was emitting some kind of crystal blue mist above the middle of the playing field.

"What in the!?" Even Kaiba saw the mist. "There must be a glitch in the system!"

"Oh, it's no glitch…" a new voice had entered the fray. It caressed evil, and it sounded like a young man, around twenty three to twenty six.

The mist had now become a light shining above, and a few seconds later, the lights in the ceiling had dimmed and shattered, and more mist surrounded me, Kaiba, Joey, and Sapphira in a perfect square. Rays shot up from the corners, and when they peaked at the light above, sky blue filled in the spaces between the rays.

It couldn't be happening. Not again. I wanted to believe that, but what I was seeing with my own eyes was the truth. I was trapped in the Pyramid of Light again.

"I've finally found my chance to strike," there was the voice again. "I've finally found my chance for revenge…"

The Sorcerer of Dark Magic turned to me.

"I am pleased to finally see you again, Pharaoh," the Sorcerer was the source of the voice!

"No, this must be some kind of trick!" I heard Kaiba exclaim.

Suddenly, I was shimmering an amethyst aura, and the next thing I knew, I felt something on my body change as a staff was summoned to my hand.

When I looked around, all of the monsters on the field were gone, except for the Blue Eyes and the Sorcerer of Dark Magic, and Kaiba, Joey, and Sapphira had vanished as well. In their places were the Blue Eyes, the Red Eyes Black Dragon, and Magician's Valkyria, every one of them dumbfounded and mystified at what they were seeing when they looked at each others paws and hands.

The dragons roared, and Magician's Valkyria had her staff pointed at the Sorcerer. I pointed mine too, but when I saw my arm, purple bands were embracing it. I was in awe at what I was seeing. Somehow, I had transformed into the Dark Magician!

Right before any of us could move though, I was lifted into the air, and sent flying towards the wall where Magician's Valkyria and the Red Eyes Black Dragon were standing. I was slammed against the wall, and I slumped. The Sorcerer began to walk towards us as a yellow light came into view. When it vanished, I was now garbed in the black and blue clothes I was wearing before this happened.

When I turned to my left, Sapphira, Joey, and Kaiba were leaned against large pedestals holding crystals, Sapphira lying on the floor, her upper body raised to meet the Sorcerer's gaze. Joey's back was against a platinum colored pedestal, his arms laid out in a way that at first glance, they would be limp. His legs pointed to the opposite wall. Kaiba was lying face down on the floor, getting to his knees. Had they transfigured too?

When I looked back at the Sorcerer, a black mist taking the form of a dragon came into view, and then more detail came. It was Diabolos, the King of the Abyss! With that dragon, I made out the Sorcerer's identity.

"Scorpius!" his name came out in a cry. He pointed his staff towards us, and we were lifted into the air. His magic pushed us to the wall behind us, and we went through into crystals. Mine was like quartz crystal, and somehow, I felt my strength slipping from me, like a bird taking flight.

He walked towards us, and he lifted his staff again. Three cards in my deck began to glow, and they whipped out of my deck. As they flew away from me, I realized that what Scorpius just took were my Egyptian God cards! Sapphira, who was right next to me, banged on her amethyst colored crystal prison, but she couldn't break it. Scorpius smirked.

"Did you honestly think that an ancient and withered power would keep me from creating a blissful world?" the cards dissolved into violet dust as he spoke. "You are foolish traitors, Amaranth…why do you defy your protector?"

"Oh please, enough with the fairy tales," Kaiba murmured.

"Our PROTECTOR!?" Joey was practically shouting now. "You're the guy who goes 'round pickin' on people for no reason, when they don't need it?! Are ya KIDDING!?"

"How dare you!" screamed Scorpius. "Are you implying I was…casting misery on innocent lives? …Now THAT is a joke!"

He held out a hand, and then clenched it. A second later, I was gasping in agony. A pain struck me, like a sword cutting a deep gash into my chest. I then rocketed out of my crystal, and was slammed hard down on the floor.

"This power was granted to me by the Mirror of Nightfall!" he said. "It strengthened my spirit and it allowed me to infect a host. You destroyed my body 5000 years ago. And now I have a power you WILL respect!"

Kaiba got to his knees to glare at him. But right before I could move, Yugi's spirit suddenly appeared and leaped towards Scorpius, trying to attack. But Scorpius' magic came too quick, and Yugi was struck, sparks flying everywhere, and sent flying towards me. A moment later, he lay senseless.

"No, Yugi!" I scrambled towards where he landed. He was sparking violet, and before I knew it, his spirit was dragged into the Millennium Puzzle. As I was paralyzed in the position I was in, I was suddenly lifted into the air again, this time, with Joey right next to me as we were snapped towards the evil sorcerer, our backs to him. Because I was fifteen inches off the ground, my legs dangled, but I knew I was being held prisoner through magic.

"Oh, Amaranth," the sorcerer said in a persuasive tone. "You still defy me? You once silenced me while merely ridding Egypt of its evil doers. I can save this world from all evil, and it will become perfect…this is why…I need you. Not just for me, but for all of us…lend me your powers."

I was _not_ falling for that. Joey, Sapphira, Kaiba and I squirmed out of his grasp and backed away a couple of feet away from him. Scorpius gave us a look that could only be described as a glare.

"So be it, Amaranth," he snarled. "You will regret not lending me the power to rid the world of evil."

He thrust his staff up, and the next thing I knew, I was being lifted up again with Joey, Kaiba and Sapphira. I was slammed back into the quartz crystal with him next to me in a separate crystal, Kaiba and Sapphira on the opposite wall in amethyst crystals. There was a purple and white light, and when it appeared, it grew large and strong enough to the point where a white and black dragon appeared, the white side of the dragon facing me and Joey.

The second it spread its wings, a pain suddenly began to sting through me. I felt as though my body was on fire, as though a thousand swords were cutting into me, and as though my heart was being ripped out all at the same time. This pain was strong enough to the point where I gave a time-consuming, excruciating scream. I knew I could hear Joey and Sapphira, but no scream came from Kaiba. I knew he was in pain, but he was just trying to suck it up. I then heard a shattering sound after a brief five seconds.

That was the last thing I heard before I lost consciousness.


	5. Desperate Hour

**NOW we're getting somewhere! Yay! It took me till 1 am in the morning to finish this last night but it's done! Woo hoo!**

**Usual Disclaimer**

**Okay, here we go!**

**--**

Chapter Four

Desperate Hour

**Tea Gardner**

Before I knew what the heck was going inside that pyramid, everything went black. I went limp, and remained motionless, floating in a dark void.

I had seen the whole incident with Mokuba and Tristan. No one had even played the Pyramid of Light, but it still came onto the field.

Out of the darkness, after a couple of what seemed like minutes, a brand new area presented itself to me. The sky was a midnight blue, rain slicing through the atmosphere. I looked ahead of me, and saw a small town, a castle in the way back. But I couldn't feel my feet touching any ground.

Weird…what the heck was going on here? I looked down, and was in complete awe.

I was about fifteen feet in the air, and I wasn't touching any ground. I thought I was going to fall to my death. But somehow, I was eased down to the ground, and I tenderly landed feet first without receiving any injuries into a field. Where was I?

I turned, and saw Mokuba, in the sky blue and cobalt blue striped sweater, midnight blue jeans, sneakers, and the yellow vest he wore at Battle City.

"Mokuba?" He looked at me when I said his name. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," he said. His voice trembled as he spoke. He was worried about Kaiba. I knew it. But I was even more worried about Yugi, Joey, and Sapphira. They had screamed in agony. Hearing that made me worried to the point where I'd do anything to help them.

"Tristan?" I turned the opposite direction to check on him.

"Yeah," he said, stroking his head to ease an ache in his head. "Though what I wanna know is where we are and how we got here…"

"Now that I think about it," I said. "I haven't seen this place either…"

The terrain we were in wasn't what worried me. My mind kept flashing to our friends. Were they okay?

"Seto…" Although Mokuba said his name quietly, it was enough for Tristan and me to hear and turn our heads to face him. "Where is he? And what about the others?"

"I sure hope they're alright," my voice carried concern.

"Hey, don't worry about it," said Tristan, trying to sound as positive as possible. "I'm sure they're nearby and well."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. We'll find them."

"Hey," Mokuba said. "There was a black haired girl at the Duel Dome when this thing happened. Do you know her?"

"You mean Sapphira?" said Tristan.

"That's her name?" he asked.

Tristan nodded. "She's the little sister of this defense attorney."

I looked up into the sky, a full moon gazing down on me…where were they? How were we going to find them? And the last question that bugged me…what happened in the Pyramid of Light to get them going through so much pain?

For a while, I thought that there would be no disturbance until I heard something behind me; a raspy breath. When I turned and looked down, I gasped, and I could've sworn I felt my heart stop for ten seconds. A million poets could try for a million years, and yet still only describe but three eighths of the sight that caused panic to jet through me.

Yugi and Joey were sprawled on the ground, their breathing coming out raspy, faint, and in gasps. When I looked next fifteen inches to my right, Kaiba and Sapphira mirrored their condition.

I couldn't think clearly. My heart was racing, beating so fast I couldn't even measure the speed. I felt as if…no. I _hoped_ I was going to pass out soon. But I never did. The idea just refused to release my soul of the piercing dreadfulness. Each second was another sword thrust into my heart.

Tears began to sing a lament as they glistened and then fell as I screamed his name.

"YUGI!" I didn't even think before the name ripped from my lips in a scream. My scream caused Mokuba and Tristan to turn, but I didn't even pay attention to that. I was too frightened at Yugi's and Joey's state. This was the worst thing I had to witness in my whole life. I wanted to believe I was dreaming, that this was just some sickening nightmare. But I knew I wasn't dreaming. This was real.

I could hear Tristan urging Joey to fight the urge to bid the world farewell.

"Joey!" he was nearly screaming now. "C'mon man, don't die on me!"

"Yugi, please!" I was begging at Yugi's side. "A-A-Are you okay!?"

"Te…a…" Yugi painstakingly turned his head to face me. His eyes were now nothing but violet spheres screaming in desperation. He tried to open his mouth, but his lips and mind failed him as he went completely silent.

_No…don't die…please don't die! _I was willing to do anything, even jump off a cliff, just to save his and Joey's life. It would even be better if it spared Sapphira and Kaiba. Right before I could scream for help, a voice broke the silence.

"Eek!" it was the voice of a fifteen year old boy. "Those people! Are they okay!?"

When I turned, there was indeed a boy of that age, dressed in a white tunic, brown pants, and leather sandals. He had crimson hair that touched neck, and his silver eyes gazed at us. He was a bit tall for his age, at first glance, people would have believed him to be eighteen.

"A girl from another village came here looking as bad as that a week ago," he said. "Maybe you should take them to Tarja."

"Who?" I could still feel the tears coming. I tried extremely hard to not let my voice falter, but it almost deemed useless. Regardless, I had to believe they would survive.

"Princess Tarja Sumner," said the youth. "She's also the healer of this area. She maybe young, but she's a prodigy."

"How are we supposed to carry them though?" Mokuba's voice was shaking.

"Wait here for a second," the youth made a mad dash through the bridge, gradually disappearing from sight. I turned to face Tristan.

"What are we gonna do?" I was so worried my voice was starting to become raspy.

"Hopefully, he can get what we need to get to Tarja," he said.

Mokuba was beginning to hyperventilate. The situation seemed to be getting worse by the second.

A few seconds later, two dragons suddenly flew out, the youth guiding them to the dying foursome. I was in awe at what the two dragons looked like. One was black with red eyes, and the other was white with blue eyes.

_A Blue Eyes White Dragon and a Red Eyes Black Dragon?_ my thoughts questioned.

The two dragons landed right by them, the Blue Eyes next to Kaiba and Sapphira, and the Red Eyes right by Yugi and Joey.

"Here, help me get them on their backs," he said.

I ran to the Red Eyes first to help the youth, Mokuba and Tristan hurrying to help Kaiba and Sapphira. I slowly lifted up Yugi with both arms, and when he touched the dragon, I grabbed one of his legs and slowly flung it over to the other side, so now Yugi was slumped on the dragon's back. The youth quickly got Joey onboard.

"The castle is in the way back of this town," he said. "Just pass by a fountain and the castle gates will be there. Well…I guess all that's left is to make sure the guards let you in and you get to Princess Tarja quickly."

Knowing what to do, I thanked the youth as quickly as possible, and Tristan, Mokuba, and I made a mad dash for the town, our friends and Kaiba still nearing their last breath. We crossed a bridge, and dashed through what seemed like tall door like gates.

As we entered the town, people ran into the nearest buildings in fear of the dragons, some of them screaming, others watching in awe, but we didn't care. We needed to see Tarja. And fast. Mokuba was a cheetah; I couldn't catch him just to steal a wallet. But then again, the only family he had left was in his desperate hour.

We passed a water erupting fountain until we reached castle gates, but right as we were about to break through, two men in silver armor leaped into our path, their poleaxes crossing into an X just to make sure we couldn't get through.

"Hold it guys!" Mokuba's voice promised violence. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Who are you!?" one of the men snarled. "What do you want with this town!?"

"Please, guys!" pleaded Mokuba. "This is a matter of life or death! Let us in! We need to see Tarja, and fast!"

"Dragons massacred this village just last week," snarled the second man. "We don't need them here! And you have no business with the princess!"

"But-!" I tried myself to tell them the situation.

"Leave!"

Soon, I heard a raspy voice behind us.

"Plea…please…" Sapphira's voice was reduced to a mere whisper. "Princes…Tar…ja…"

The guards weren't impressed with Sapphira's struggle to fight her invisible, yet mortal injuries. We still refused to give up. But after a numerous amount of tries, the guards eventually escorted us out, shoving us into the field when we took our last step off the bridge.

"This is bad, guys," said Tristan. "They won't let us in, but they're running out of time. How do we get into the castle?"

"Hey!" Now another new voice entered the tension. Judging by the voice, it sounded like a thirteen year old. I turned. A girl was crawling out from where a riverbank would be if the space weren't dried out. Her flowing hair was a dark navy blue, and she was wearing a cobalt blue tunic, black trousers, and brown boots. She was also tall, she almost looked sixteen.

She ran on up to us, a look on her face saying she meant business, but something about her told me she wouldn't mean business like the guards did.

Climbing out next was the crimson haired youth we had seen before the guards kicked us out.

"I overheard everything. Really guys, you can't blame the guards for kicking you out," she said. "This town was nearly massacred by evil dragons just a week ago, and a wind dragon evaporated the riverbank surrounding this town. Ever since, the people have been afraid of their kind. Although I must say, I am curious as to why you are here."

I heard Yugi try to speak through his wounds.

"Little one…plea…please…" his voice grew softer as he spoke.

She had a puzzled look on her face before Tristan explained the situation.

"They were attacked by this freaky sorcerer…I think his name was Scorpius, and he beat our friends up pretty bad," he said. He gestured to Kaiba next. "He's also not in the best shape. He's gonna need all the help he can get."

When I turned, I could definitely see Kaiba was fighting the urge to die, evidenced by the glare trying to say he didn't need help. Still, something told me he was going to let Tarja heal his wounds.

The girl looked at the dragons, and then looked over each dragon's left shoulder. Her eyes widened when she saw their state, but she quickly got that business look back.

"Alright, we'll let you guys in," she said. "This secret passage is pretty old, so it could be a trip. Follow us."

She and the youth returned to the dried up riverbank, and climbed down. The dragons flew after her as we skidded down to reach them. I ended up losing my footing while going down and landing next to the preteen boy, but that gave Tristan and Mokuba enough space to get down in one piece.

The two preteens ran into a large, yet dim tunnel, with a small contaminated stream of water in the center, wood jutting out from the walls, and rats running whenever we came into their path. The breaths of our dying friends seemed to echo through the tunnel. The dragons soared through with us following them, until we reached a ladder. The preteens climbed up, and when I couldn't see them anymore, something opened up to reveal a circular hole, and light shone down on us.

Tristan, Mokuba, and I raced up through the ladder, and the hole was large enough for the dragons to fly up. The preteen boy closed a hatch, probably what was opened, as soon as we got up.

_Hang in there, guys…_Fear still immersed me, and it refused to let me out of its grasp.

What the hatch led up to was an old clock tower, looking like it hadn't been used in centuries. Rain was showering onto some nearby mechanisms due to a fissure in the roof, and the gears were rusted. In front of the girl was some kind of silver lever, built into the floor. Fifteen inches away from it was a small wrought iron gate, but it was large enough to the point where an average sized dragon, such as the Red Eyes and the Blue Eyes, could fold their wings while flying and get through it.

The preteen girl pulled the lever, and the gate opened.

"This lever will lead to the waterway," she explained. "This secret passage is working a lot better than just flying up there. There are still some injured people from the massacre with Tarja. If we broke through the windows, we'd just end up hurting them more."

The children then ran to the gate, crouched down, and crawled through it, me, Tristan, Mokuba, and the dragons carrying our friends following her. When I crawled out, they were waiting for us. When the two dragons flew out after Tristan and Mokuba, they dived into a pool of water, and swam forward, her arm jerking as a signal we needed to follow her.

We dove after them, while the two dragons soared above us. I could almost feel the dying breaths of Yugi, Joey, Kaiba, and Sapphira in my head. Their breathing grew fainter and fainter over time. I swam as fast as I could, sliding through waterfalls, following every direction, diving through every tunnel. I didn't know how long we were doing this…fifteen minutes maybe?

When I dove and swam through another underwater tunnel, and resurfaced, the children were now climbing up another metal ladder, but there was a hole up in the roof already there. Right before Tristan, Mokuba, or I could move, the two dragons rocketed through the surface, and went straight for the girl.

Tristan was the first to climb, followed by Mokuba, and then I went. Every one of us flew up that ladder until we were back into the pouring rain, on a gray brick rooftop.

_Don't die…_my thoughts were now pleading. _Please don't die…_

That thought had kept going through me through the entire journey. I still believed that they would survive, but now that their breathing was trembling, my hope was beginning to crumble to dust.

"We're gonna have to fly for this," said the youth boy. He turned his gaze to Mokuba. "Caylis and I will fly with him, but we're gonna have to grab their tail. Other than their back, it's the most stable place when it's tensed."

Caylis and the other youth walked over to Mokuba, and the two picked up the Blue Eyes' tail. With a roar, it flew forward.

I could hardly even hear Yugi and Joey breathing any more. Not a good sign.

Tristan and I grabbed the Red Eyes' tail, and it flew after the Blue Eyes. The rain slashed through the sky and splashed onto me as we went. I resisted the urge to quiver from the cold as we knifed above rooftops. Thunder roared, and lightning cracked every five minutes, but it took us about ten minutes to reach a tower.

I got off the dragon, grabbing Yugi and getting him off the dragon, Tristan getting Joey, the youth holding Kaiba, and Caylis grasping Sapphira. I strapped Yugi's arms around my neck to carry him, and then I ran on into the tower to find a staircase.

"We have to go up," the girl said. "The top will have the door leading to Tarja."

So I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I was running so fast I didn't even dare stop to catch my breath. At this point, Yugi's life was hanging by a thread.

All of a sudden, his hand, crossed to meet my right shoulder blade, grew cold…

_No…_

I heard one more shuddering breath…

_No!_

His hand stroked my shoulder blade until…

Limpness.

_NO! YUGI!_

Without warning, I slammed into a door. I lost my balance, however, and my feet skidded across until I collided with the stone floor. This time though, candle lights impaled the darkness.

Footsteps entered the tower, and I heard Caylis say…

"We're here."

--

**Uh oh! Cliffie! Are they gonna survive? You'll have to wait till chapter six!**

**Special Thanks to Pharaohyamifan with this chappie!**


	6. Tarja

**Whew! Finally finished! So now we're about to find out what happens to our dying foursome? Will they die? Or will they survive? Hee hee! xD **

**Yu-Gi-Oh is (c) Kazuki Takahashi and Konami.**

**Okay, craziness gone. Let'sa gooo! xD**

**--**

Chapter Five

Tarja

I looked up from where I was on the floor. Yugi had slid off my back due to my slipping, but I was right in front of a young woman.

She was around nineteen years of age, with dark brown hair flowing down and coming to an end at her chest and brown eyes. She wore a full length crushed velvet flowing dress, the skirt and upper part of the long, flowing sleeves completely black, but the corset and bottom part of the sleeves were the color of amaranths.

There was even an amaranth in her hair, the first thing one would notice if they were looking at her face. Around her neck was a pendant, a dreamcatcher being the charm.

The maiden looked up from me, and when I turned to see what she was looking at, the others were right behind me. Caylis and the youth ran up, and bowed.

"Lucien," she turned to the youth. Her voice was like that of the most divine seraph. "Did you and Caylis honestly come all the way up here with these seven teenagers?"

"Forgive us, Princess," Caylis' voice broke the silence. "Four of them were severely injured, and possibly cursed by the Dark One."

The maiden was obviously Tarja, from what Caylis had called her. "What kind of evil has he cast upon them?"

"The brunette in blue told us everything," said Lucien. "He and some of his friends witnessed these four attacked as they were exposed to corrupted light and darkness. Somehow, I believe the Mirror of Nightfall was reassembled and then it was used to strengthen the Dark One's spirit and allow him to infect a host."

Mirror of Nightfall? The mirror we saw at the museum back in Domino? I remembered that glow before we passed out…that must have been when Scorpius infected his host, the Sorcerer of Dark Magic, got his dragon, and escaped to attack Yugi and the others!

She remained silent for a second.

"Amaranth...just like you, I was granted abilities from the Egyptian Gods." She held up her hand to show a glowing Millennium Symbol.

"Please, Princess," Caylis pleaded. "You must save these four! We need them to save both dimensions! They are the reincarnation of the ancient Amaranth that defeated Scorpius before!"

"But how did we get here?" Mokuba asked, his voice quivering in fear for his brother. "Did Scorpius send us here?"

"What binds you to this world is the evil of the Mirror itself," said Tarja. "Scorpius used it to stay in your world to cast even more evil upon your world."

My eyes widened. Scorpius had sent us here so no one would be in his way to destroy our world!?

"He sent us…here…so we'd be… out of… his way…!?" Kaiba's words came out raspy.

"Although your world had the Mirror," Tarja continued. "The four shards were sent here twenty minutes before you arrived. Should you want to save your world, you must gather the four shards of the Mirror, and it will drag Scorpius into this world. Once you defeat him, destroy the Mirror with the Sacred Blade.

"But even a single shard of the Mirror is dangerous. You must have the ancient artillery of the Amaranth in order to rid the two worlds of evil."

I then heard Yugi once more.

"Princess…" he barely managed to gasp the word. "How do we…defeat this sorcerer? Where…can we find the…shards of the…Mirror of Nightfall? What do…we need…?"

There was a pause in the air before her voice broke the silence again.

"Ancient Amaranth," she said quietly. "I am now beginning to understand just what you truly desire. You wish for peace to forever stay in your world and in our world. I understand that you are willing to save this and your dimension to bring that serenity. You tried the best you could to resist this wicked sorcerer, and yet you reaped the penalty."

Her voice became harder and colder as she spoke the next two sentences.

"This power was bestowed from the Egyptian Gods to the original Amaranth. May they bestow it to you once more."

Blue, red, and yellow embers spiraled around her as her hands began to shimmer a white aura. The three Egyptian Gods, Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, and the Winged Dragon of Ra, appeared right behind Tarja in a spirit type form as she raised her hands into the air. They quickly turned into misty spheres as four vapors from each sphere flowed to our friends like birds flying to a nest.

The vapors absorbed into their bodies as they began to glow an aura, changing from red to blue and from blue to yellow, and back to red constantly, and they were lifted into the air. I heard them gasp in awe over Tarja's magic.

After what seemed like two minutes, they were suddenly eased down, and when their feet touched the stone floor, they maintained perfect balance. It was as though they weren't even injured at all. But to make sure that they were alright, I had to ask.

"Guys?" the word came out in a single, yet shuddering breath, probably because of the slow weight lift in my heart. "Are you alright?"

Joey, Sapphira, and Yugi turned, but Kaiba remained where he was. Joey and Yugi nodded, but Sapphira responded with an enthusiastic 'You bet!'. Life was reawakened in their eyes.

Tarja stood and continued to speak.

"This power, known as the Sacrifice Technique, will let you heal a person who is gravely injured, at a cost of half your strength," she said. "But now…the first thing you must do is gather the ancient artillery of the Amaranth," she said. "The Sword of Dark Rites, the Sword of the Soul Eater, the Scepter of the Valkyria, and the Staff of He who Uses the Darkness to Shine.

"Each weapon will choose who it's master will be if one's touch should cause it to glow a aura of light or darkness. Control one, and no one could possibly stand in your way. Wield all the artillery, and every evildoer in Virarda will quake in fear. Follow the Northern Lights to seek the artillery, but first start with the staff.

"Only then will they lead you to the village of Oresibon. But be careful. Half the population of Oresibon is rebels. They're especially hostile to those who come seeking wealth and power, even from other realms. The color of each aurora will change after acquiring a new weapon. White will be for a light weapon, and purple will be for a weapon of darkness."

A white aurora? That didn't seem physically possible! But then again, we were out in the middle of a realm full of dragons and kingdoms and whatnot.

"We understand, Princess," said Sapphira. The rest just nodded.

"But before you leave, I must leave this with you," she said.

She glowed that white aura once again, and four vapors came out in the shape of spears, and they rocketed to the back of each one's left hand. Curious, I got up from my seating position to get a better look. Yugi showed me the back of his hand so I could see.

What was on his hand was a scar shaped into a single amaranth flower, and nothing else. But why did Tarja leave this scar on them? Did she enchant them with some kind of spell they could use? Wait…that was for the Sacrifice Technique. That couldn't be it.

"This scar was what the ancient Amaranth bore to prove themselves," said Tarja, as I quickly turned my gaze back to her. "But most of the Amaranth has been dead for five thousand years. To prove you indeed are the Amaranth, should they question you, show them your scars for identification."

She paused.

"Well, it's pretty much all I can do for you for now," she said. "I will watch over you by glass water. Should you be in danger, I will do the best I can to protect you from here."

She put her hands into a position so there was a ball like gap in between them. A green light engulfed the area, and when I blinked, we had left Tarja's tower. We had returned to the area where our adventure to get from here to Tarja began.

Lucien and Caylis were right by me, staring up into the night sky. Something glowed above me, and when I looked up…

There it was. A purple aurora borealis. The Northern Lights.

"Well, we better get going," said Yugi. "With Scorpius in our world, there's no telling how much time we have before he destroys it.

"That's right," said Joey. "For all we know, dis freak could be after more than just to conquer the worlds."

With a glare in his liquid amber eyes, Joey got to his feet, and darted away.

"Hey! Joey!" Sapphira screamed. "Slow down!"

And she went after him. Pretty soon, Yugi, Kaiba, Tristan, and Mokuba were running after them. I turned to Caylis and Lucien.

"We're coming with you," said Lucien. "My sister and I know more of the way of the aurora."

I nodded in agreement, and we got to our feet and ran after them.

--

**Hooray! They survived! But what shall they do on the journey to Oresibon? Let's find out...in chapter seven! Whoo!**


	7. Journey to the Rebel Village

**Wow, how long has it been since I last updated? oO**

**Anyways, I'm back now, and we're gonna enter Sapphira's point of view, just so that you can see what'll be going through her head in this chapter.**

**Usual Disclaimer**

* * *

Chapter Seven

Journey to the Rebel Village

**Sapphira Weaver**

"So what the heck could glass water be?" I asked when the others managed to catch up to me and Joey, who was practically a speed demon when he ran off. "And how the heck did we turn into monsters!? Why didn't she tell us anything!?"

We had walked directly into a vast forest, with so many trees there was only a small gap to show the aurora. Anyone walking into here at night would probably be gone off track until the next day. The whole thing was a bird's nest; they rocketed and chorused everywhere like a choir. Despite it being so wild, there was a pathway that we discernibly trailed.

"Why didn't you ask that princess anything while we were up there?" Kaiba asked me.

"It's like Yugi said!" I exclaimed. "Who knows how much time we have till Scorpius conquers our world! We get back home after defeating him here and Kaiba Corp's on fire, exploding all the machines, and the next thing you know the thing goes into wreckage 'cause of all the fire and debris like that island you had at Battle City!"

I had known about the island because of headlines saying Yugi won that tournament. Also, somewhere in an article I read, it said the island had blown up. I looked at Kaiba as I finished with two more sentences.

"And I'm gonna have to be the one who has to talk to you until you calm down while you're screaming over the fact your company's destroyed! That's not gonna be any fun!"

Kaiba looked frontward, away from me.

"I'm just worried, dude," I said to him. "Who knows how dangerous his magic is?"

What really concerned me was Jennifer's and my grandfather Edward's safety. Jennifer was at the courthouse back at home, dealing with an assault case, and Grandpa was at the manor alone with one butler, who was also an ex-employee of KaibaCorp.

_Jennifer…Gramps…I hope you're safe,_ my thoughts whispered.

I looked up for the aurora to make sure we were going the right way. The pulse continued to flow in that direction, so we were going the right way. Maybe this was all too unproblematic. Something felt wrong…

I stayed on the alert. If something were to happen, I'd be the first one to leap into action. I've always played the conqueror in the family, but I wanted to promise everyone's protection. One rustle in a bush and I would unleash aggression fiery like a phoenix, even if it was a pack of murderous wolves. I was a bright enough warrior not to go for it right away, just to be sure I wasn't assaulting some kind of guiltless creature.

A wind unexpectedly began questing through the atmosphere. My jet black hair danced before my eyes, but I quickly got it out of my way to make sure I could still see where I was going. Pretty soon though, the sky became visible again as we hit the heart of the forest.

The night masquerading the sky began to fade as it became a soft azure. The sun was already beginning to show its golden rays like a spider crawling onto a windowsill.

"Oh crap…" I silently muttered. If we didn't hurry, we'd lose our only sherpa for 24 hours.

I ran up to Yugi (who looked oddly different than when I first saw him), and nudged him in the shoulder tenderly. He looked at me for a second, his eyes full of curiosity.

"We better hurry," I said. "If we don't find the village soon, we'll lose the aurora."

I pointed towards the beginning daybreak to warn him further. The azure was now leisurely becoming lighter. Any longer on foot and it would become daybreak, and the Northern Lights would be gone.

He looked in my direction, and noticed what I was trying to tell him. He turned his head to face the others and spoke.

"Any longer and it'll become sunrise," he announced. "If that happens, we'll lose the aurora. We have to hurry."

Soon, we had broken into a dash again, racing against the moon's fiery counterpart, tearing through the forest. I didn't know how long this had lasted, but it felt like we were running forever. How far could we go without losing the aurora?

I could see Kaiba ahead of me as he slowed to a stop. I planted my feet to the ground to stop as he lingered flawlessly still.

"Great, I should've known we'd be coming to something like this," he snarled.

I looked over his shoulder, and then to my left, and lastly to my right.

"Crap!" I shouted that word, it ringing angrily through the trees.

We had arrived a crossroads, four trails shaped into an addition sign. I've always hated coming to these because they never really showed me where any road went, but what was worst was that every path still had trees. There was nothing to show us where to go except for the fast fading aurora. I wasn't even sure if I was even going to be able to see the pulse's direction anymore.

_Lousy crossroads,_ my thoughts mumbled.

"It's up ahead," Lucien suddenly piped up as I turned. "I can still see the pulse."

"You sure?" Joey asked.

The crimson haired youth and the azure haired girl nodded. Right after that nod, we were walking again. The disgusted expression over the crossroads was still there, even when Yugi had approached me.

"Yugi, my thoughts have been screaming this a million times," I said with irritation in my voice. "When we get to Oresibon, we're getting a map."

"It's probably a good idea anyways," he said. "We're about to lose the aurora."

And right as I looked up, the Northern Lights faded into a light azure as we turned. After at least fifteen more minutes of walking, a light emerged from the end of the forest, causing us to walk faster. And right as we went through that light, I looked down.

There it was. Oresibon had finally presented itself to us.

* * *

**There it is! What could go wrong there? Well, remember what Tarja said. It's full of rebels, hence the name of this chapter. They sound dangerous, so our heroes better be careful!**

**Venom Amaranth has left the building.**


	8. Awakening Dexterity

**HUZZAH! I have returned!**

**Sorry about the long hiatus, I've been in school, and preparing some very, very, very, VERY cool scenes later in this story. I can't even tell you how excited I am to get to a couple of those, hehe! ;D**

**AHEEEM!! Sorry, here's chapter eight. Here comes the Joey!**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! is (c) Kazuki Takahashi and Konami**

* * *

Chapter Eght

Awakening Dexterity

**Joey Wheeler**

The village soil itself was nothing but what looked like a large rock covered in dirt, and I could see small houses, which were obviously made up of wood, and over a million people going to and fro from a distance. For a village full of limb tearing freaks, it looked pretty peaceful. But I got the feeling that if we tried to do something about that staff, they would release full aggression without any regrets.

It would be hard getting downward if there was a lot of shrubs and whatnot in the path. We were standing by the forest's exit, and on a mountain, a path separating us from the village. We were only a few feet away from it, but we would have to be careful.

"Hey…" Sapphira said in awe. "They look cool."

She paused before she grinned and said in a musical voice:

"Let's go take a look!"

I suddenly felt concern raging in me. Something reeked about that village, and it wasn't something a normal human being would catch.

"Sapphira," her name came out before I could even think. She turned to look at me, a puzzled look making direct contact with me. "Are ya sure you wanna go in the front? Looks kinda cutthroat there. Not that I'm scared or anything, but I was just thinking you may wanna get in the back?"

I hoped this wouldn't offend her. To my relief, it hadn't. A soft smirk wrenched at her lips.

"I appreciate your concern, Joey," she said enthrallingly. "But you don't need to worry about me. I've wrestled with a _wolf _before. I know how to fight."

My concern was replaced by shock, evidenced that my eyes had widened and a gape had released my lips.

"WHAT!" I was so dumbfounded it came out so rapid. "You wrestled with a wolf before!? That's just nuts!"

"Well yeah, duh," was Sapphira's response.

Right before I could even ask about her fight with the creature, she, Yugi, Kaiba, and the others were darting to the village. Alarmed, I loped after them, doing the best I could to not trip as we tore downhill.

I managed to slow down after at least thirteen minutes, my legs, as a final point, concluding the task to guide me down the peak. However though, I wasn't finished, evidenced that I scurried into village with the others, being vigilant of those who lived for mutiny.

Each villager walked to and from each house, every one having a smile wrench at their lips. However, I could certainly tell that they had been through past wars, and it wasn't just because of some of the men having shoulder length hair.

It was evidenced they had been through some pretty bad fights because on the mature villagers, scars were visible on their faces or their hands. The only villagers who were without payment of those scars were village children from infants to young adults. However, all those twenty five or over were scarred. I even saw a few that had scars going through their eyes.

But if they were people who were perfectly capable of tearing us limb from limb, why were they so happy? Had they made peace with the princess or something?

"For a village full of limb tearing freaks," I said. "They sure don't look it."

"Is this some sort of trick?" I heard Kaiba pipe up from a few inches away. "I thought that princess said this village was full of rebels. I smell a rat…"

He snarled those last four words, and they rang through the air like slow tolling funeral bells.

The sound of a collapse and hissing embers cut through the weirdness of peaceful rebels like the detonation of a bomb during a friendly conversation.

"The heck was that!?" I stopped and darted my body towards the direction where I heard the collapse. I looked up, and the signal I saw caused an instant knowledge of the fact someone was in danger.

From behind the houses in front of us, ebony colored smoke rose and hung in the air, almost as though it were calling out to us. Almost like it were saying 'Come to me…come to me…'.

The sight of that was not good, so I took off towards the smoke. I must've caught everyone by surprise because I heard them gasp before they followed me.

"Joey, what's going on!?" I heard Tristan call out at least five minutes after I ran for the smoke.

"Somethin's goin' on down here!" I took a breath every two words. "Somethin' must've happened!"

"Whatever you say!" Tristan replied. "Just slow down, man!"

I couldn't tell how long it took us to run to the source of the smoldering, and I really didn't pay much attention to what was around me, but when we reached the location of where the smoke was coming from, I let out a gasp before I suddenly went at a loss of words.

"Oh no!" Tea's voice went raspy during her scream. I heard the others gasp.

Right in front of our eyes, in a village full of human destroying creeps, was a large mansion that looked like it would've been made out of the purest marble. However, to our dismay, the mansion had caught ablaze and was now suffering in the inferno.

All too sudden, something emerged through the doors, also caught on fire. The object was screaming at a remarkable volume, any louder and its lungs would give out.

"AAAAAAAARRRGH!!" was its only response to being on fire. It was the voice of a female, around fourteen to fifteen years old. Alarmingly, her voice was almost identical to Mokuba's, only it was much deeper and more like a girl. It wouldn't surprise me if Kaiba called out to her, and then realized Mokuba was there.

"That girl's on fire!" I heard Yugi shout. "We have to help her!" He ran towards her.

"Be careful, Yuge!" was my only response.

"Drop to the ground! Hurry!" he commanded. As soon as the girl dropped, he turned his head back to us. "Isn't there something we can do to smother these flames?"

I looked around, and that's when I saw Sapphira darting right behind me. I felt her hands grip the collar of my blue coat, and with wolf like strength, she yanked at it as I nearly fell over her. She took a second tug, and yet my body unwillingly resisted. On her third attempt, she managed to wrench me to the ground as I narrowly avoided landing on my neck.

When I stared ahead, Sapphira was running to the collapsed girl on fire. She was holding something that would reach her waist…something blue…she had it, didn't she? I looked at my left arm to check. All that I could see there was a long sleeved white shirt, the sleeves ending three inches from my wrists.

Yep. She managed to steal the coat in just three pulls.

She cast the coat over the girl, and then tried to lift her. She grunted, and pulled with all her might, but the weight of the girl didn't seem to want to give in. She heaved a sigh as her dagger like eyes turned to glare.

"Little help?" she demanded.

I turned, and I could see Kaiba roll his eyes as he went forward to help Sapphira. He didn't walk either. He was actually running to help. His hands were then on the flame smothering blue coat as he and Sapphira lifted the victim up.

Sapphira pulled him back quickly, towards something made up of stone. It was stone, but I could see water spewing out. A fountain? When they were close, Kaiba let go and Sapphira smothered the victim into it. Steam rocketed out from the fountain so fast it was almost like watching a jet take off into the air.

It finally subsided after two minutes, and Sapphira pulled the victim out of the fountain, all the while tossing my soaking coat back to me. The rest of us closed in as we took a look at the girl. It was already too late to save the mansion, it was nothing but rubble now, but at least we had saved a life from being lost in flames.

The victim was a girl around fourteen to fifteen years old in Sapphira's arms. She was an inch shorter than I was, and probably the same weight as me (no wonder she was hard to lift), and her silver hair flowed down to the nape of her neck, and her dahlia red eyes were barely able to open.

A blood red tunic ridged with gold covered her torso, and she wore leather brown pants, but she was barefoot. Her arms and feet carried second degree burns, but she suffered third degree burns to her neck, and possibly her chest.

"Ugh…I…managed to… es…cape but…"

"Amy?!" I heard Lucien cry out. "Is that you?!"

"It looks…like…I might not…ngh!"

Amy cringed in pain, her body curled into a ball, lying on her right side. She began to breathe quick, startled gasps for air, and cold sweat smothered every limb, but it didn't help her burns.

At that moment, I heard something. Something was dominating over Amy's pain, like something was more notable than her position. I could hear quick thumps and beats, the tempo speeding within each second. Was it drums?

"Hey, can anyone hear that?" I asked in alarm.

"Huh?" Tea perked up.

"I'm hearin' somethin'…Not sure what it is though…"

Mokuba cupped his hand close to his ear.

"I don't hear anything…" he said.

How couldn't they hear that sound? I could hear it, but how come they couldn't? I shook my head to regain control. We had to be sure Amy was safe, so I checked for a single heartbeat, but when I did, it sounded distant, like someone stranded on an island was calling out to another person on a boat rowing to it, but the boatman could hardly hear it.

When I heard a distant beat, realization dawned on me. It wasn't a drum that was creating that rhythm…

It was…

Amy's heart!

"Hey, guys, we gotta help her!" I called out desperately. "Her heart's goin' out fast!"

"She's going into cardiac arrest!?" Kaiba half shouted.

"No! Her heartbeat's weakening!" Caylis screamed. "Lucien! Get help, quickly!"

There was no way a fire could do this much damage to her…unless her heart was weak in the first place.

I would've panicked, but I suddenly felt like I knew what to do. This was weird, unlike me at all. The normal me would panic, maybe even spazz. But this time, I didn't feel ice water in my veins. I felt fire in there, but I didn't feel a glow. I quickly put on a brave face, and the next few moments had no words whatsoever.

I rolled Amy until she was on her back, and my arm reached out to place itself on her heart.

"Stand back!" I called.

"Wheeler! What are you doing?!" Kaiba demanded.

I tensed my whole body, focusing energy to Amy. I tried to put as much stress into me as much as I could, and I focused that tension towards her. This paid off soon as I saw an aurora green light glowing on the amaranth shaped scar that princess left behind after I met her for the first time, and then the light itself spread over me like flames.

The green light glowing around me shifted over to Amy as the aura around me was deemed colorless as I felt my own strength going out. After what seemed like two minutes, the auras were gone. So was half my strength.

My efforts proved to be draining as my mind went blank, and the ground rushed to meet me. The world seemed to spin, and everything around me sounded distant. I couldn't even hear the shouts of my friends who were almost too close to me at this point. My head seemed to swim in every direction as my vision continued to blur with each passing second until my consciousness was gone.

* * *

**Holy crap! What on EARTH did Joey manage to pull off there? Can't tell y'all at the moment, so how 'bout we wait a little...until chapter nine? Hehehehe...;D**

**Okay...please, please, please, PLEASE don't kill me if he sounds out of character in descriptions, I am NOT used to writing as Joey! xx AAAAHHH!!**

**MEGA hugs to:**

**The Danvers Girls and Pharaohyamifan, for being TOTAL sweethearts.**


	9. Encounter

**GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! Has it been TWO WHOLE MONTHS since I updated?! Argh! School's been a nightmare, and I can never seem to get the time to write, so forgive me if this POV sucks. The school's been sucking the knowledge of writing out of me! Had to resort to midnight sessions!**

**Argh. Okay, tantrum over. Here's Chapter Nine. Srry I couldn't make a better chapter title. And Kaiba's giving his side of the story. YAY! Okay, enjoy now.**

**Yu-Gi-Oh! is (c) Kazuki Takahashi and Konami**

* * *

Chapter Nine

Encounter

**Seto Kaiba**

"Wheeler! What are you doing!?"

That third rate duelist didn't seem to hear me. He was crouched on the ground, a hand over the kid's heart. His eyes closed, and a split second later, the scar that princess left with us began to shimmer an aurora green light until the whole scar itself was glowing.

My eyes were captivated by the glow until a whole aura of the same color engulfed Wheeler, like flames dancing onto a person to destroy via fire. Whatever this hocus pocus magic trick was, I doubted it would work.

Mokuba, however, was in awe over the sight, on his knees watching the moment like he was watching a suspenseful scene. An expression was engraved onto his face that could only be compared to a kid seeing the Northern Lights for the first time.

The burns she had sustained were healing as she began glowing the same colored aura as Wheeler, as though the skin itself was sealing the burns as they came. As she was slowly mended, Wheeler's aura was gradually turning white. His face contorted in exhaustion as the seconds passed.

The white aura faded quickly, and as soon as it did, I examined to see what it had done to him, and when I did, I could swear he wasn't looking too good.

He was still on his knees, and his skin was so pale that anyone seeing that would have guessed all of his blood was drained out. I couldn't hear a single breath out of him, which was probably because I was at least ten inches away, but his deep rust colored eyes remained open as doors. I would've been impressed if it wasn't for the dog.

The other dweebs seemed to crowd around him, repeatedly asking him questions such as 'Are you okay?' and 'What did you just pull off there?'.

A moment later, Wheeler collapsed.

Their gasps filled the air as they crowded in closer to his collapsed body, but one of them piped up right as they got closer.

"Get back!" a hand masked in a fingerless fishnet glove and a spiked bracelet loosely embracing its wrist suddenly shot into the air like a bullet, accompanied with a voice like golden wind chimes. "Give him air!"

The dweebs I knew suddenly disbanded from him to reveal that girl who demanded help when the kid was on fire. What did Wheeler say her name was?

Sapphira. I heard that geek say her name when he encouraged her to get behind us before we went in. Her waist length ebony hair seemed to dance with the wind.

She pressed two fingers to Wheeler's neck, examining his pulse. A minute later, she rolled him onto his back, set the side of her head onto his chest, and waited. As the seconds ticked by, her fingers kept raising until they reached five, and then she reset her hand into a fist, and continued to ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty five…

I lost track of counting as her fingers rapidly, but gracefully, flung upward as if she were doing it to the rhythm of a song. By now, I was sure that the villagers were on their way. But why didn't they come here yet? Maybe word was spreading. The seconds faded with time, and after what seemed like an eternity, her head perked up.

"Seventy beats," she said with a soft smile. "He's in one piece."

Sighs of relief were carried away by the wind as they came. However, mine was edged with disgust.

"You should check again," I said grudgingly. "A dog's heart should beat faster than that."

The geeks I knew bombarded me with glares like a tempest.

"Kaiba, can't you see Joey needs help?! There's no telling what could've happened to him!" Yugi said.

"I'll help the rebels toss you if they do," Sapphira's words ripped in a seethe. "You're gonna have stars go around, I promise."

Leave it to an emo kid to throw herself into Dork Fest quickly.

Soon, the girl she had saved was looking at me, her dahlia crimson eyes gazing into me wistfully. Silver hair flowed to her lower back, some of it covering half of her eye.

"Your words are like a rebel, young man with eyes like the raging of great waters." a new, brusque and rough voice was welcomed into the moment. "We like that."

I looked up, and the dweebs turned. By 'young man with eyes like the raging of great waters', were they talking about me?

There was a whole group of villagers right in front of us. The men were incredibly muscular, but they were very well built. Each one had scars on either their arms or their face. Some had scars going through their eyes, and a small population of the men had shoulder length hair or were beginning to grow facial hair. Each of them held a sword, spear, axe, or sledgehammer. They were godlike in height, some even reached seven feet.

The women were much different. Although they were very thin, they still had some defined arm muscles. Even if they weren't entirely defined, I could still see it through long sleeves. They were also like Amazons, it would be impossible for me to get any taller than them. Their hair either touched their shoulders or went clear down to their waist. They, too, had scars on their face, but there weren't as much as the men. They too, held a sword or spear, but maces replaced their sledgehammers.

The one who spoke was a brunette man in front of the whole group of rebels, appearing to be in his late twenties or mid thirties. An axe was clasped in his hands, something scarlet and firm on the edge of the blade itself. Was it rust? Or dried blood? He wore a blue Viking like tunic with sleeves torn via battle, and the sleeves and edge of the tunic were ridged with black. Leather was the material that graced his ebony pants and auburn boots.

The girl stood to face the man.

"Father?"

"Amy! You escaped!" She was suddenly running towards him, and a few seconds later, he had caught Amy in his arms like an unlucky locust getting caught in a spider's web.

"We know Amy is safe now, so let's get on with this!" A woman spoke from the gathering of rebels. "Lucien! Where is the one who performed the Archangel Blessing?"

"I still don't know how he did that!" Mokuba whispered.

"All he did was tense his body and focus as much stress as possible," I said.

I froze at the speed of shattering glass as shock clawed at my thoughts. Pride slaughtered panic before it could even touch me, but the idea of just saying something I never knew stunned me into an alarmed and uneasy stillness.

_Wait…how did I know that!? This isn't possible! That woman said absolutely nothing about this…unless…is it…? No…that's impossible!_

I was entirely lost in the field of denial I barely even noticed the cadences of the dark rainfall beginning.

"Let's go," another brusque voice pulled me to my senses, a woman this time. I snapped from the trance and looked up to see that one of the women had cradled Wheeler, who was still unconscious, in her arms, glaring at me like a feral cat. Amy held what seemed to be that woman's axe. I didn't see one on that kid when we saved her. Sighing spiritually, I rose to my feet as the mutineers walked with them quickly, but not before I felt something push me behind the woman hold Wheeler in her arms. The other dweebs, including Sapphira, were suddenly with me.

Another minute later, I had realized my legs were striding behind Amy, who was walking in front of us, probably trying to ensure we would cooperate.

The geeks whispered to one another.

"What now?" I heard Sapphira speak.

"The situation looks bad," Yugi whispered back. "Joey is unconscious, and we're being crowded by a group of people who are capable of killing us whenever possible."

"And did you see how big these guys are?!" Tristan's was an exasperated softly spoken question. "Some of them are actually seven feet! Kaiba would probably get clobbered pretty fast, and he's practically taller than your average high school senior! Did you even see how defined those guys are?!"

It didn't take long for me to discharge a fierce stare at him.

"Good point, Tristan," Sapphira whispered. "He and I _are _six feet and yet…ugh! Wait…that reminds me…"

She whispered those last four words so quietly that I didn't think it would be audible to the rebels. She turned to me, her blue eyes wistful, and her midnight hair was plastered to her skin, the sky's tears streaking it. The muted light, barely breaking through the atmospheric veil of clouds, caressed her skin, causing her to appear as something carved from marble.

"Er…Kaiba?"

She seemed to hesitate. What for though?

"I want to apologize for earlier," she said. "It's a force of habit. I shouldn't have said that." Her voice composed a lament.

I tried to think back to where she had snapped at me. It was only then I remembered when she threatened to attack me when I insulted Wheeler.

"_I'll help the rebels toss you if they do__**,**__" _she had said._ "You're gonna have stars going around, I promise."_

"Whatever," was my only response.

She smiled slightly, and then turned to face forward.

The woman embracing the dog suddenly stopped and glanced over her shoulder. There was a two minute pause before she turned to one of the houses, which seemed to be the most modern of all of these. The other houses were hopelessly outdated compared to this one, which looked as though this was built sometime in the 1850s. Genuine sheetrock made up the walls, and glass had actually been placed in the square shaped openings, crafting windows and almost protecting the interior rooms. The door seemed to be made from rosewood, and there was a bronze colored doorknob.

She walked towards the door, and stopped right in front of it. How she managed to open the door while she was still holding him was beyond belief.

Something blunt edged pushed me in the back, which being the siren I needed to go forward. I would've tried to resist, but when you have a physically powerful girl standing at probably around five feet and nine inches that could swing an axe and kill us on the first strike, I knew I would have no choice.

Without a single dent in the steel that was my courage, I walked on.

* * *

**Behold my Kaiba POV! It may not be great, but please understand I haven't written in a while. Feel free to review. :)**

**Venom Amaranth out.**

**Special Thanks to Pharaohyamifan, and the totally awesome Josh! :D**


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